Don Williams

Don Williams has covered Texas Tech football as either a beat writer or columnist for all but one year beginning in 1986. That counts two seasons he spent at the University Daily. He joined the A-J full-time in 1988.
He's covered 300 Tech football games, including 19 bowls. In the 1990s, he also staffed Dallas Cowboys home games and three Super Bowls.
Some of his other beats include Tech track and field and small college basketball and baseball. He was on hand in Lewiston, Idaho, when Lubbock Christian University won the NAIA World Series in 2009.
Williams graduated from Midland College in 1985, following the Chaparrals to the NJCAA final four one year, and from Texas Tech in 1988. He interned at the Arizona Republic in 1987, where he spent the summer covering the Triple-A Phoenix Firebirds and future major leaguers Matt Williams, Terry Mulholland, Dennis Cook and Jeff Brantley and ex-major leaguer Dave Kingman. (Thankfully, Kingman, a renowned media hater, did not send a rat to Don in the press box.)

DALLAS — Senior guard Shannon Lilly poured in season-high 29 points and junior forward Myles Johnson added 18 as hot-shooting Dallas Baptist pounded Lubbock Christian University 93-67 Monday night in Heartland Conference basketball.
Dallas Baptist came in averaging nearly 91 points per game and kept up that pace. Lilly shot 11 of 16 from the field, including 7 for 10 from 3-point range, and Johnson made 4 of 6 on 3s.
The outcome made both teams 8-4 overall and 2-2 in the Heartland.

Texas Tech football coach Kliff Kingsbury filled two of the several vacancies on his staff Monday, making one promotion from in house and hiring a veteran special teams coach from South Carolina.
Tech announced the promotion of Emmett Jones to offensive assistant coach and the hiring of Joe Robinson as special teams coordinator.
Robinson has coached special teams at six programs, most recently at Arizona (2004-07), LSU (2008-10) and South Carolina (2012-15).

Texas Tech on Saturday announced the resignation of football strength and conditioning coach Chad Dennis, yet another staff shakeup after a 7-6 season.
Dennis is another original member of Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury’s staff, formed in 2013, now leaving the program.
“We would like to thank Chad Dennis for the three years he led our strength and conditioning program,” Kingsbury said in a statement the Tech athletic department released. “We wish him well in all his future endeavors.”

Matthew Alford plays a lot of minutes for the Lubbock Christian University basketball team, usually without scoring a lot of points.
An uncommonly small power forward at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Alford’s contributions are measured by how he passes, rebounds and defends in the low post. He’s so good at it, he’s started 34 games the last two years.
The ultimate role player became a lead dog Thursday.

Lubbock Christian University coach Steve Gomez had little reason to worry, as it turns out.
The Lady Chaparrals came back strong from the Christmas break, no matter the level of competition.
LCU won its Heartland Conference women’s basketball home opener Thursday afternoon at the Rip Griffin Center, beating Oklahoma Panhandle State 96-51 after 11 days off from games.

Texas Tech quarterback Davis Webb, blocked by the rise of Patrick Mahomes II to this season's FBS total offense leader, on Wednesday night announced plans to transfer and use his final year of eligibility elsewhere.
The 6-foot-5, 224-pound Webb figures to be a coveted prospect. He's thrown for 5,557 yards and 46 touchdowns in his three-year career. However, Mahomes took over as the Tech starter in the ninth game of the 2014 season and never relinquished the job.

HOUSTON — During the Texas Bowl’s pre-game press conference on Monday, Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury and his counterpart, LSU’s Les Miles, agreed on the value of ending a season by winning a bowl game.
Miles really needed this one, given the Tigers ended the regular season on a four-game streak of scoring fewer than 20 points. Mixed into that was a three-game November losing streak that put Miles’ job in jeopardy.

HOUSTON — Maybe it’s fitting DeAndre Washington isn’t the center of attention for the first game he gets to play in his hometown NRG Stadium.
The Texas Tech running back’s on the verge of 1,500 rushing yards for his senior season, yet the spotlight for Tuesday’s Texas Bowl shines on his counterpart, Leonard Fournette, the LSU all-American with more than 1,700.
All the other times Washington’s been to NRG Stadium, the fans were there to see someone else: the Houston Texans or the cowboys of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo or the monster trucks.

HOUSTON — Texas Tech’s last practice Sunday for the Texas Bowl took place at Houston Methodist Training Center, the Houston Texans’ indoor facility right next to NRG Stadium.
Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said, with rain in the forecast, he didn’t want to take chances.
“It’s our perfect-play Thursday (equivalent),” he said, “and we wanted to make sure it was crisp and clean.”
Sure enough, it rained later in the day.